When to change Manual gear oil?

I see nothing in the 2005 Beetle TDI manual about changing gear oil. On my old Honda Civic (same year) it was every 100,000 so I’m surprised the VW manual says nothing about it

Thanks

According to VW, the tranny fluid is a lifetime fluid... Right.

I like to change mine every 100k miles for peace of mind.

I do mine at every TB change

What’s a TB? A google search just gave me “throttle body” but diesels don't have throttles. So I’m confused. ��.

BeetlePD said:

What’s a TB? A google search just gave me “throttle body” but diesels don't have throttles. So I’m confused. ��.

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timing belt (80-100K miles, depending on the model)

ToxicDoc said:

timing belt (80-100K miles, depending on the model)

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or every 5 years, whatever comes first.
reality is that every fluid in your car should be changed at least every year or more (like motor oil).

My second TDI had 297k and was very hard to get into first with the engine running, changed the gear oil and it felt like it took 200k off the clock.

When I buy a used vehicle, all fluids get changed and if it's an ALH, new timing belt and everything that goes with it. Same car "had a new timing belt" when I bought it, after I changed the shiny belt I saw the start of cracks in it...

With the exception of engine oil, I operate under the "if you ask should I change it" you should, brakes and power steering are the most overlooked by most until they have issues. Can you get away with it...sure... usually until you don't and instead of 30 or 40 bux worth of fluid you're buying brake calipers or more plus the fluid you should have changed anyway.

Should you change your gear oil on a super expensive gear box that's not the most easily found in the used market...YES!

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^^^^^^ THIS^^^^^^
fluids are cheap. they break down fast.

Mongler98 said:

^^^^^^ THIS^^^^^^
fluids are cheap. they break down fast.

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You're gonna change the fluids one way or the other...either on your time or the fluids time... having been stuck on the side of the road twice in my life, I do my best to stay ahead of the failures.

The first time I was stranded was pre cell phone days...that sucked

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Or the fluid just turns to tar and there is no changing it lol. Worst I have ever seen was on my van. Brake fluid in mid summer temps was as thick as molasses and twice as dark. A 1995 with 230k with no changes will do that to dot4 and this was just a few years ago.

Mongler98 said:

or every 5 years, whatever comes first.
reality is that every fluid in your car should be changed at least every year or more (like motor oil).

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Only a fool would change manual trans. fluid annually. I think 100k miles or every tb change is a nice easy to remember interval. My gear oil looked pristine at 100k.

turbobrick240 said:

Only a fool would change manual trans. fluid annually. I think 100k miles or every tb change is a nice easy to remember interval. My gear oil looked pristine at 100k.

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The dinosaurs thought the tar out looked good too...going by look has nothing to do with the actual condition of lubricants not subjected to carbon and extreme heat.



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I've seen my share of overtaxed gear oil. The stuff that came out of my 02Q @100k was mint. Maybe if you track the car or grind the gears consistently it might be shot by 100k.

We have 3 ALH manual cars still running factory gear oil with no issues. I guess we are going with VW's lifetime recommendation.

Simon

yea, when you change it after 15 years the fluid looks like chocolate milk from all the water it sucked up.
lifetime is (the life time the maker deams fit to not service any more. not the life of the car.) think life time of how long its worth more than a few bucks

These trans can seep fluid out over time that causes their level to get so low that the 5th gear could end up with little or no lube.

I think the official amount for the O2J is 2.1 quarts, but I like Oilhammer's recommendation to throw in more than that if you can.

I really believe that VW thought of lifetime as what people would typically own/drive a car, up to 100k miles. No one should advocate not changing any fluid or think that it really lasts forever. That would be ID10T thinking.

jokila said:

I really believe that VW thought of lifetime as what people would typically own/drive a car, up to 100k miles. No one should advocate not changing any fluid or think that it really lasts forever. That would be ID10T thinking.

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BMW did the same thing

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turbobrick240 said:

I've seen my share of overtaxed gear oil. The stuff that came out of my 02Q @100k was mint. Maybe if you track the car or grind the gears consistently it might be shot by 100k.

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I run nothing but highway, so the gear oil is not being abused

.

Not something to be worried about. I changed mine at around 150K, if I recall, and it looked just like the stuff I was replacing it with!

I changed mine ~3 years ago for the first time ( ie after ~16 years) because one of the drive shaft seals started leaking. That was the first time there was any reason to drain it. That was at just over 500,000km. Shining a flashlight into it showed a moderate amount of metallic sparkling but nothing indicating excessive wear - which suggests the oil was still doing its job of lubricating. Since it doesn't get excessively hot I don't know what would cause it to deteriorate with time (and I don't think it is hydroscopic, so moisture shouldn't be a problem).

Yeah, there really shouldn't be any noticeable moisture unless you've been fording rivers or parking in flood plains.

RobinPhillips said:

(and I don't think it is hydroscopic, Correct. so moisture shouldn't be a problem) WRONG.

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it does heat up a bit and cools down, this expands and contracts and drawn in fresh moisture from the air. over time this builds up acids in the oil after the life of the detergent and additives is broken down and no longer doing its job.

Here is some of that "life time" VW tranny oil in a 2000 about 2011 at 290ish k miles.

(lost 5th gear due low oil level and the tranny showed no leaks on the outside)

My recommendation to those "life-timers" is to drain and fill to proper level at least one time.....

I like doing it with the timing belt

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turbobrick240 said:

Yeah, there really shouldn't be any noticeable moisture unless you've been fording rivers or parking in flood plains.

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A leaky shift tower seal will certainly let water into the trans driving through rain. That seal can get wallowed out and damaged when the shift tower bushing has worn enough to allow the tower to move around during shifts.

jokila said:

A leaky shift tower seal will certainly let water into the trans driving through rain. That seal can get wallowed out and damaged when the shift tower bushing has worn enough to allow the tower to move around during shifts.

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Is that very common? I know my Kubota that lives outdoors got water intrusion through the shift tower when the boot degraded and ripped off. I've not personally run across milky gearbox oil in cars that weren't either ancient or submerged.

turbobrick240 said:

Is that very common? I know my Kubota that lives outdoors got water intrusion through the shift tower when the boot degraded and ripped off. I've not personally run across milky gearbox oil in cars that weren't either ancient or submerged.

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I found the shifttower collar selector that operates the detente for the reverse gear rusted. It was a stinky mess. I had already changed the lube every 100k and was finding it moisture cloudy and dark brown beyond the normal. Fixing shifter slop by replacing shifter tower bearing and seal stopped that stuff from happening.

I live in Houston. It rains here. Roads can pond up even if not flooding. Water splashes where it wants to when driving. I don't know if it's common, but your mileage may vary. It's a point of entry and plenty of people have had shift tower bearing/bushing go bad so the seal takes a beating.